filter by Author

“I found Catholic Answers Live, and was engaged immediately. ‘Hooked’ is the right word. I was astounded at the things I had mis-learned. God bless you and I hope you never go off the air.”

~ Susan, Cincinnati, OH

Were so-called miraculous statues exposed as mechanical frauds during the Reformation?

Full Question

I heard that during the Reformation there were many miraculous statues exposed as frauds. These statues were said to be able to speak, but after they were torn down it was shown they were actually mechanical dummies.

Answer

Every age is confronted with the problem of bad taste in liturgical art. (Our own is no exception.) During the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance artists strove for naturalism in the production of the visual arts of painting and sculpture. At the same time the study of engineering and mechanics was progressing.

These two began to come together. Mechanical clocks were invented, and, aside from their use as timekeepers, they became items of visual delight and entertainment. Today in Germany, Switzerland, and other Northern European countries you still can see examples of mechanical clocks combined with moving figures; the clocks not only keep time, but perform little mechanical plays. The cuckoo clock is a descendant of this art form.

Churches and shrines undoubtedly sported statues articulated with mechanical lips. With their movements they would be considered entertaining, but not miraculous. Anyone could see such devices at work outside the church on the towers of town halls and guild halls. In erecting such statues the churchmen of those days might justly have been accused of bad taste, but not of fraud.

Magazine Articles

Blog

Book Of Saints And HeroesThese marvelous legends and exciting true stories of Christian saints and heroes will provide many hours of delightful reading to believers and non-believers alike!

"I offer no sacrifice save to the One true God."

~ Maximus, martyr, saint, about A.D. 250, in answer to the demand of the civil authorities for sacrifice to the pagan gods; a test in common use as belief in a single Godhead was known to be definitive in the early Christian community; thus any Christian might be called on to seal with his blood his faith in the One God. (See: The Blessed Trinity)